Adrenal News

All patients with adrenal incidentalomas experienced deteriorating metabolic parameters, and nearly one-third of patients with nonfunctioning adrenal incidentalomas developed subclinical autonomous cortisol secretion, researchers in Greece reported.

Adults with adrenocortical carcinoma treated with mitotane after radical resection of the tumor may have increased recurrence-free survival and overall survival compared with untreated adults, study data show.

In men with hypopituitarism, treatment with growth hormone therapy is associated with changes in circulating thyroid hormone levels and deiodinase enzyme activity, although the mechanism behind the changes remains unclear, study findings show.

Women with active Cushing’s syndrome are twice as likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea vs. women without the disease, according to recent findings.

PoinT

The long-term use of prescribed opioid therapy has continued to rise in the United States. According to the CDC, an estimated 20% of patients with noncancer pain or pain-related diagnoses are prescribed opioids in office-based settings. Approximately 200 million prescriptions for opioids were dispensed in 2013, according to the NIH, a trend that has grown by more than 50% in the past decade.

Approximately one in eight European patients with primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency are receiving a higher-than-recommended dose of glucocorticoid replacement therapy, whereas 7% of patients are receiving doses that fall below guideline recommendations, according to a recent database analysis.

Rates of overweight, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia are not increased among Swedish adults with autoimmune Addison’s disease, but careful monitoring for associated autoimmune disorders is recommended, according to researchers.

The risk for osteoporotic fracture and bone fracture at any site may be higher among adults with primary aldosteronism and aldosterone-producing adenoma compared with adults with essential hypertension, study data show.

Adults with hypopituitarism or cranial diabetes insipidus performed worse on empathy tasks vs. healthy controls, an indicator of reduced oxytocin levels, according to study findings presented at the Society for Endocrinology Annual Conference.